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Week-long lockdown in Nepal, 3rd person tests positive

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New Delhi (NVI): The government of Nepal has declared a one-week lockdown in the country till March 31, even as a third person was tested positive for COVID-19 today, reports The Himalayan Times.

Nepal’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishwar Pokhrel took the decision for lockdown on Monday, hours after a second coronavirus case was confirmed in Kathmandu.

The government has also asked people to remain inside homes. However, medicine shops and gas stations have been allowed to operate.

The hardest hit will be daily wage earners. 1.5 million people, many of them workers, have left Kathmandu, the capital, for their homes in rural districts, as per Nepalese media reports.

The Nepal defence ministry said the lockdown, which began yesterday, would be a “strict stay-at-home order” and curfew. Thus, those violating the lockdown will be fined Rs 1,000 or one month imprisonment or both.

Whereas, the government has already closed its borders with India and China for a week starting from Monday.

The National Public Health Laboratory is currently the only facility in Nepal able to test for coronavirus.

The Nepali government currently does not have any plan to conduct tests at other locations, let alone provide proper health care for those infected.

Meanwhile, number of deaths from coronovirus is over 17,000 people and infected more than 400,000 globally. Nepal goes to week-long lockdown over COVID-19Week-long lockdown in Nepal, 3rd person test positive.

UN in India welcomes PM’s 21-day lockdown strategy

New Delhi (NVI): The office of United Nations in India has welcomed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s strategy for a nation-wide 21-day lockdown to curtail the coronavirus pandemic.

UN resident coordinator Renata Dessallien commended the PM’s call for social distancing as an important step that is expected to help flatten the curve.

“The UN system in India is fully mobilized and ready to further step up its support to the Government to fight COVID-19. I believe that if we work together, we can overcome one of the greatest health threats of our lifetimes,” Dessallien said.

UN agencies, including the World Health Organization and UNICEF, are at the forefront of COVID-19 response and is working with the government, both at the centre and state, on preparedness and response measures, disease surveillance, laboratory and research protocols, risk communications, training on infection prevention and control and cluster containment plan, surveillance and tracking of travellers.

On March 24, Dessallien along with the WHO representative to India, Henk Bekedam, met the Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Harsh Vardhan and commended the government for its “early and robust response”, taking a whole-of-government approach to tackle the pandemic head on.

They also discussed measures to reduce the stigma and stereotype.

“The UN in India remains active and is determined to deliver for the people, especially the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, who may be amongst the hardest hit,” Renata Dessallien said.UN in India welcomes PM Modi’s 21-day lockdown strategy.

4 more test positive in Kashmir, total 11 cases in J&K

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Four more persons have been tested positive for coronavirus in Kashmir, taking the total number of positive patients in Jammu and Kashmir to 11.

Kashmir has now eight positive COVID19 patients-with one on way to recovery, while as Jammu has three cases-outs of them two are recovering.

J&K Government’s spokesman Rohit Kansal said these four who belong to Bandipora district of north Kashmir had participated in a religious event together with a person from Srinagar who tested positive yesterday.

“4 more persons, all from Bandipora, tested positive today. Preliminary findings suggest they were close contacts of Srinagar patient who tested positive yesterday. All 5 reported to have participated together in religious event ,” Kansal said in a tweet.

Till yesterday, 4765 travellers and persons in contact with suspected cases have been put under surveillance and.

2928 persons have been kept under home quarantine while as 71 are in hospital quarantine.

Persons who are under home surveillance stand at 1268 while as 498 persons have completed their 28-day surveillance period.

253 samples have been sent for testing of which 253 tested as negative, while as 20 reports are awaited.

The Government has also urged the general public to maintain social distancing as it is the key to stop and prevent the spread of Covid-19 from those who are infected.

“The intervention includes remaining out of crowded settings, avoiding mass gatherings, and maintaining distance (approximately 6 feet or 2 meters) from others when possible,” the government advisory said.

Bangladesh reports 5 COVID deaths, no new cases in last 24 hours

Bangladesh lockdown

New Delhi (NVI): Bangladesh reported its fifth death due to coronavirus today, with 27 positive cases in the country so far.

82 people have been tested in the last 24 hours but no positive cases have been reported, according to United News of Bangladesh.

The country has suspended all domestic flights, trains and public transport to fight the pandemic.

On Monday, the Bangladesh government declared a 10-day shutdown from March 26 to battle the spread of the coronavirus.

Both the private and public sectors, except emergency services, have come to a temporary halt.

In addition to this, Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) Director Meerjady Sabrina Flora said a total of 47 people have been kept in isolation while 47 others are in institutional quarantine.

COVID-19: Bhutan govt closes all international borders

New Delhi (NVI): In the wake of coronavirus pandemic, Bhutan has closed down all its international borders with India on Monday and also restricted all the international crossings with effect from Tuesday.

Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs, Royal Government of Bhutan issued a public notification saying: “In view of the rapidly evolving situation in the region regarding COVID-19 and to mitigate the risks posed by this pandemic, all international borders shall be closed with effect from 6 am of March 23 until further notice.”

The notification further stated that Bhutanese arriving at border crossings shall be allowed to enter Bhutan subject to medical screening and a mandatory two week quarantine at a designated facility adding that foreigners residing in the kingdom will be allowed to exit.

The notification has been issued in consultation with the Prime Minister’s office, Bhutan for strict compliance, it further added.

Bhutan has reported its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus after a tourist visiting the country from Guwahati tested positive.

According to Bhutan Prime Minister Office, the 76-year-old American tourist entered Bhutan from India early March. Eight Indian passengers who travelled with the American on the same aircraft, from Guwahati to Bhutan’s international airport in Paro, have also been quarantined. However, all of them tested negative.

Moreover, the agriculture minister has also said that the import of vegetables, fruits and meat have also been banned as a precautionary measure against coronavirus outbreak.

CCMB may come up with diagnostic kits for COVID-19 soon

New Delhi (NVI): The Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) will be aligning with the WHO’s call for widescale testing for COVID-19 to diagnose the virus in time and is working overtime on the development of cost-effective and accurate diagnostic kits.

(WHO) insists that widescale “testing, testing, and testing” is the key as early diagnosis may help save lives, the Ministry of Science and Technology said in a statement.

Dr R K Mishra, Director, CCMB said: “We are helping our incubating companies; they have come out with ideas, and supporting them in testing and validating the diagnostic kits proposed by them.

“We may come up with some good kits and it may take at least 2-3 weeks if everything goes well. Quality and accuracy of the kits are the most important things. If the kits give 100 percent results, then only they will be approved,” he added.

The organization is also keeping in mind the cost, it is estimated that the test should be less than 1,000 rupees, the ministry said. “They are also thinking of kits which are as cheap as 400-500 rupees, but at present cannot assure that, as it is a different route and all this needs more standardisation,” it added.

CCMB is also planning to culture the COVID-19 virus. Dr. Mishra said that the institution has facilities for this, and they have got the approvals from the government too; they are yet to receive samples and kits to initiate the culture.

CCMB has trained 25 people so that they can go and do the testing in these centers. It may soon come up with diagnostic kits for COVID-19.

Some of the labs where the COVID-19 testing will be done include Nizam’sNizam’s Institute Of Medical Sciences (NIMS) Hyderabad, Gandhi Hospital etc. The Centre for DNA Finger Printing and Diagnostics (CDFD) is also likely to be added to this group.

However, vaccine and drug development are other aspects of fighting the virus. But as of now, CCMB is neither working on the vaccine nor the drug development.

J&K admin face tough time as people hiding travel history

Mubashir Bukhari

Srinagar (NVI): Despite strict directions from J&K administration over COVID-19, dozens of people who have recently returned from abroad have gone into hiding without any screening in Kashmir, according to UT officials.

Deputy Commissioner Srinagar, Shahid Choudhary expressed concern over the serious negligence and tweeted: “Flood of messages about travelers who concealed travel history; and about contacts. I wish such people acted responsibly. Those appeals weren’t without reason. Control room & teams having tough time.”

On Tuesday, DC Srinagar said that around 100 persons with travel histories have been traced and put into quarantine so far adding that another 200 such persons reported to the COVID-19 control room in the district are being verified and will be put under quarantine if found true and required.

The government has also set up a 24×7 control room where people can inform about people, who are hiding their travel histories. Srinagar administration has received between 400-500 calls so far.

Several people who recently returned from Saudi Arabia and other parts of the country are staying home without disclosing their travel history.

Last week three couples, all the residents of Qamarwari after returning from Saudi Arabia went straight home and have not been quarantined or screened.

Similarly, a man from Hamdaniya Colony Bemina has arrived from Thailand, a lady from Guzarbal Qamarwari along with her sister arrived from Saudi Arabia too are hiding their travel history and have not been screened yet.

“I don’t know why people are behaving irresponsibly…a person had come from Thailand, he is from housing colony, ellahi bagh, buchpora,,,like others he also skipped screening and quarantine… Kindly look into this case too,” wrote one person in a reply to DC Srinagar on his twitter handle.

The government has setup 90 quarantine facilities in Srinagar and 1,800 persons returning from outside countries have been accommodated in these facilities so far.

To make people more cautions, DC Srinagar today said in a tweet: “doctors suggest actual cases in community could probably be more than those tested positive. For heaven’s sake stay at homes and report to designated hospitals if you have symptoms /travel history. Consult on phone before visiting Hospital. Please. Spread the word. #BreakTheChain”.

Jammu and Kashmir has reported seven COVID19 positive cases, out of which three have recovered.

China, WHO failed to alert nations on coronavirus early: Taiwan

New Delhi (NVI): Amid the global catastrophe caused by coronavirus, Taiwan has targeted China and the World Health Organisation (WHO), saying they had failed to warn other countries about human-to-human transmission of the disease at the end of December after cases were detected in Wuhan.

Director General of Taiwan’s Centre for Disease Control (CDC) Chou Jih-haw said an email was sent to China and the WHO on December 31, saying that Taiwan was aware of a respiratory illness that had appeared in Wuhan and was worried about the possibility of human-to-human transmission, Taiwan’s Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Taiwan’s Health Minister Chen Shih-chung said China did not clarify on the human-to-human transmission and the WHO did nothing more than simply acknowledging receipt of Taiwan’s email, according to CNA.

Addressing a press conference in Taipei yesterday, Head of the Department of International Organizations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Bob Chen said Taiwan learned about the emergence of atypical pneumonia cases in Wuhan before the end of 2019.

Taiwan’s CDC communicated this information to the WHO’s International Health Regulations (IHR) framework and to the Chinese side on December 31, requesting them to verify, Chen said.

The WHO said it would relay the information to experts, but the information was not shared in WHO’s internal website for other countries, according to Chen.

The CDC still has the records of those email communications, Chen said.

The officials were responding to a media report on March 20, which talked about the alleged inaction of the WHO in light of Taiwan’s concerns, quoting several Taiwanese officials, including Vice President Chen Chien-jen.

“While the IHR’s internal website provides a platform for all countries to share information on the epidemic and their response, none of the information shared by our country’s CDC is being put up there,” the report quoted the vice president as saying.

Though the WHO did not publicize Taiwan’s warnings, Taiwan still took precautions itself based on the information it had, including screening airline passengers, setting up an emergency response centre and dispatching a team to Wuhan to learn more about the situation, the CNA said.

The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) yesterday shared Twitter posts of Morgan Ortagus, a U.S. State department spokeswoman, on its Facebook page to confirm that Taiwan did alert the WHO to the coronavirus threat.

“Dec. 31 — that’s the same day Taiwan first tried to warn WHO of human-human transmission,” Ortagus tweeted. “Chinese authorities meanwhile silenced doctors and refused to admit human-human transmission until Jan. 20, with catastrophic consequences.”

The new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has continued to worsen since the first patients were detected in Wuhan in December. It has now spread to 195 countries, infecting lakhs of people and claiming lives of thousands.

India on Kabul attack: Reflective of diabolical mindset of perpetrators

External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar (File)

New Delhi (NVI): India today strongly condemned the terror attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul, saying such cowardly attacks on the places of religious worship of the minority community,  especially at this time of COVID 19 pandemic, is “reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators and their backers”.

A statement issued by the External Affairs Ministry said, “We convey our sincerest condolences to the immediate family members of the deceased and wish speedy recovery to the injured.”

The statement came after a group of terrorists stormed a Gurudwara in Kabul early this morning, killing several people.

The MEA said India stands ready to extend all possible assistance to the affected families of the Hindu and Sikh community of Afghanistan.

“We commend the brave  Afghan security forces for their valorous response to the attack and their exemplary courage and dedication to protect the Afghan people and secure the country,” the MEA added.

“India stands in solidarity with the people,  the Government and the security forces of Afghanistan in their efforts for bringing peace and security to the country,” it said.

Sri Lanka under lockdown, reports over 100 COVID-19 cases

New Delhi (NVI): As the novel coronavirus tightens its grip over the globe with an increasing number of cases and fatalities worldwide, Sri Lanka has also reported over 100 positive cases so far with 1 death, according to the country’s health ministry.

The nation has extended its lockdown countrywide which was imposed last week and was due to be revoked this Monday morning.

In the island nation of roughly 21 million, the lockdown has been extended in Colombo, Gampaha, Puttalam, Jaffna, Vavuniya, Mullaitivu, Kilinochchi and Mannar districts until Friday and in all other districts until Thursday, according to a statement by President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s office.

In addition to this, Sri Lankan official media reported that the police has arrested 2,682 persons so far for violating curfew and 706 vehicles have been taken into police custody.

Sri Lanka has also suspended all international flights arriving in the country.

The President’s Media Division said the curfew has been extended till 6 am (local time) on Tuesday for the Colombo, Puttalam and Gampaha districts and will be reimposed at 2 pm (local time) that afternoon, the Colombo Gazette reported.

On Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi thanked heads of SAARC nations including President Gotabaya Rajapaksa for contributing to the COVID-19 Emergency fund.

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